Creating a POA Object in eDirectory

When you create a new post office, one POA object is automatically created for it.You can set up additional POAs for an existing post office if message traffic in the post office is heavy. To accomplish this, you must create additional POA objects as well.

To create a new POA object in Novell^® eDirectory^TM:

1. In ConsoleOne^®, browse to and right-click the Post Office object for which you want to create a new POA object, then click New > Object.

2. Double-click GroupWise Agent to display the Create GroupWise Agent dialog box.

   
   

3. Type a unique name for the new POA. The name can include as many as 8 characters. Do not use any of the following invalid characters in the name:

   ASCII characters 0-13	Comma ,
   Asterisk *	Double quote "
   At sign @	Extended characters
   Braces { }	Parentheses ( )
   Colon :	Period .

   You use this name with the /name startup switch when you start the new POA.

   The Type field is automatically set to Post Office.

4. Select Define Additional Properties.

5. Click OK.

   The POA object is automatically placed within the Post Office object.

6. Review the information displayed for the first four fields on the Identification page to ensure that you are creating the correct type of Agent object in the correct location.

   
   

7. In the Description field, type one or more lines of text describing the POA.

   This description displays on the POA agent console as the POA runs. When you run multiple POAs on the same server, the description should uniquely identify each one. If multiple administrators work at the server where the POA runs, the description could include a note about who to contact before stopping the POA.

8. In the Platform field, select the platform (NetWare, Linux, or Windows) where the POA will run.

9. Continue with Configuring the POA in ConsoleOne.

Configuring the POA in ConsoleOne

The advantage to configuring the POA in ConsoleOne, as opposed to using startup switches in a POA startup file, is that the POA configuration settings are stored in eDirectory.

1. In ConsoleOne, expand the eDirectory container where the Post Office object is located.

2. Expand the Post Office object.

3. Right-click the POA object, then click Properties.

The table below summarizes the POA configuration settings in the POA object properties pages and how they correspond to POA startup switches (as described in Using POA Startup Switches):

After you install the POA software, you can further configure the POA using a startup file. See Using POA Startup Switches to survey the many ways the POA can be configured.

Changing the Link Protocol between the Post Office and the Domain

How messages are transferred between the POA and the MTA is determined by the link protocol in use between the post office and the domain. For a review of link protocols, see Link Protocols for Direct Links.

If you need to change from one link protocol to another, some reconfiguration of the POA and its link to the domain is necessary.

• Using TCP/IP Links between the Post Office and the Domain
• Using Mapped or UNC Links between the Post Office and the Domain

NOTE:  The Linux POA requires TCP/IP lines between the post office and the domain.

Moving the POA to a Different server

As your GroupWise system grows and evolves, you might need to move a POA from one server to another. For example, you might decide to run the POA on a different platform, or perhaps you want to move it to a server that has more memory.

1. When moving the POA, pay special attention to the following details:

   • For a POA configured for client/server processing, reconfigure the POA object with the new IP address and port number for the POA to use on the new server. See Using Client/Server Access to the Post Office.
   • For the NetWare POA, if it was originally on the same server where the post office is located and you are moving it to a different server, add the /dn switch or the /user and /password switches to the POA startup file to give the NetWare POA access to the server where the post office is located. You can also provide user and password information on the Post Office Settings page.

2. Install the POA on the new server. See "Installing GroupWise Agents" in the GroupWise 6.5 Installation Guide.

3. Start the new POA. See Starting the POA.

4. Observe the new POA to see that it is running smoothly. See Monitoring the POA.

5. Stop the old POA.

6. If you are no longer using the old server for any GroupWise agents, you can remove them to reclaim the disk space. See Uninstalling the POA Software.

Adjusting the POA for a New Post Office Location

If you move a post office from one server to another, you also need to edit the POA startup file to provide the new location of the post office directory.

1. Stop the POA for the old post office location if it is still running.

2. Use an ASCII text editor to edit the POA startup file.

   The POA startup file is named after the post office name, plus a.poa extension.

   • On NetWare and Windows, only the first 8 characters of the post office name are used in the filename. The startup file is typically located in the directory where the POA software is installed.
   • On Linux, the full post office name is used in the filename. However, all letters are lowercase and any spaces in the post office name are removed. The startup file is located in the /opt/novell/groupwise/agents/share directory.

3. Adjust the setting of the /home switch to point to the new location of the post office directory.

4. Save the POA startup file.

5. Start the POA for the new post office location. See Starting the POA.

6. Adjust the link between the post office and the domain. See Adjusting the MTA for a New Location of a Domain or Post Office.

Adjusting the POA Logging Level and Other Log Settings

When installing or troubleshooting the POA, a logging level of Verbose can be useful. However, when the POA is running smoothly, you can set the logging level down to Normal to conserve disk space occupied by log files.

1. In ConsoleOne, browse to and right-click the POA object, then click Properties.

2. Click GroupWise > Log Settings to display the Log Settings page.

   
   

3. Set the desired settings for logging.

   For more information about log settings and log files, see Using POA Log Files.

Corresponding Startup Switches
You could also use the /log, /loglevel, /logdays, /logmax, and /logdiskoff switches in the POA startup file to configure logging.

POA Web Console
You can view and search POA log files on the Log Files page.